■ FRANCE
Thuram transfer called off
Veteran French international Lilian Thuram’s move to Paris St Germain collapsed on Friday after the defender was diagnosed with a heart condition. The 36-year-old World Cup winner had been due to sign an initial one-year contract with the French first division side. But he told a press conference on Friday that a “heart defect” had been detected during a medical visit at the Parisian club. “If I’m holding this press conference, it’s unfortunately not to announce my signing with PSG but to tell you that doctors have detected a heart defect,” the player said. “It seems that it’s the same illness that my brother had a few years ago and from which he died on a basketball court.” Thuram said that doctors would continue their tests and they should have the final results in a month.
■ SWEDEN
Ljungberg quits Sweden
Sweden captain Fredrik Ljungberg has announced his retirement from international soccer, the country’s TT agency reported on Friday. The 31-year-old former Arsenal midfielder said it was becoming physically too difficult to play for both West Ham United and the national team. Ljungberg played his first match for his country back in 1998. “I have decided to concentrate on my football with West Ham. This is where my priority now lies,” Ljungberg said. He competed in three European championships and two World Cups with the Swedes, before being named captain after the 2006 World Cup. “The moment has come to let some other player take the No. 9 jersey. Sweden has a lot of talented players and I am sure my place will be taken by someone who has the same passion for sport as me,” he said.
■ COSTA RICA
Medford gets the sack
Costa Rica fired coach Hernan Medford on Friday as a result of their long winless streak in the run-up to their 2010 World Cup qualifiers, local media reported. “At last I’m free,” Medford said after a meeting with the country’s soccer federation chiefs, newspaper La Nacion reported. Under Medford, Costa Rica went 12 successive games without a victory until they beat Grenada 3-0 on June 21 in the second leg of a World Cup qualifier. The two sides drew 2-2 in the first leg. He was capped 89 times as a player and had been in charge since October 2006. The win sent Costa Rica to the next round of qualifying. They have qualified for the World Cup three times and reached the second round of the 1990 finals in Italy.
■ ENGLAND
City agree Jo deal with CSKA
Manchester City have agreed to pay a club record £19 million (US$37.6 million) for CSKA Moscow’s Brazil striker Jo, British media reported on Friday. The 21-year-old Jo would be the first acquisition by new City manager Mark Hughes, who joined from Blackburn Rovers two weeks ago. Jo, whose full name is Joao Alves de Assis Silva, scored 44 goals in 77 games for CSKA Moscow, including two goals in four Champions League appearances — both against Inter.
■ ENGLAND
Bolton sign Elmander
Sweden international Johan Elmander has signed a three-year contract with English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee, it was revealed on Friday. Bolton boss Gary Megson had been after the Toulouse front man since the start of the year and is rumored to have paid a club record £10 million (US$19.9 million), beating the previous mark when the club purchased French striker Nicolas Anelka from Fenerbahce.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Chess great Magnus Carlsen on Friday quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York after governing body FIDE barred the Norwegian from participating in a round at the tournament for wearing jeans. FIDE said in a statement that its dress code regulations were designed to “ensure professionalism and fairness for all participants.” It issued Carlsen a US$200 fine and gave him an opportunity to change into the correct attire, which the world No. 1 rejected, it said. Carlsen said he had a lunch meeting before the round and had to change quickly. “I put on a shirt, jacket and honestly like
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